Isaiah 26:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Open the gates so that those who uphold the truth, embrace the truth, and maintain peace may enter. For we place our unwavering trust in You, O Lord, for all eternity. Once the entire universe recognizes our Lord Jesus Christ and acknowledges Him as a mighty and salvation-bringing city, with both an inner and outer protection, then the Holy Spirit will urgently instruct the sacred mystery-makers, namely, the holy apostles and evangelists, through the voice of the holy prophet, to declare: Open the gates, allowing entry for those seeking access through faith and the pure observance of divine mysteries. Let in a people who uphold the truth, for the divine gospel and redemptive message enlighten believers to the wisdom beyond the law, enabling them to be steadfast in truth. It introduces ministry not as before, characterized by symbols and shadows of the old law, but in spirit and in truth. This is the essence of the truth.

Lift the gates so that those who embrace the truth and those who champion it may enter. In other words, open the temple gates for the assembly of the righteous to come in for worship, for the city finds its salvation through faith and reliance on God, not through the might and weapons of humanity.

Open the gates and allow Him to enter, a people of righteousness who uphold the truth. In this hymn, which the saints will chant in the land of confession and adoration, there is a swift transformation of countenances, presented as a dialogue of questions and responses. The inhabitants of Vogia declared, "The stronghold of our Savior shall be surrounded by a wall, and a divine purpose shall be established within it." The Lord replied, or rather commanded, not to those who spoke this, but to the angels tasked with guarding the gates of the Lord's city, instructing them to open the gates so that a righteous people, who uphold the truth—referred to in Hebrew as emminim, signifying faith in the plural—might enter.